


Shifting Sands

by Emyblossom93



Category: Naruto
Genre: ... and by probably i mean definitely emotionally unhealthy and unstable friendship, Blood, Child Abuse, Dark, Death, Emotional Abuse, F/M, Probably unhealthy friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 17:38:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1950147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emyblossom93/pseuds/Emyblossom93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young Sakura finds herself in a strange new village where she knows no one but her abusive father. When she meets a new friend, a lonely red headed boy by the name of Gaara, she is eager to reach out to another human. But, she soon learns that his boy isn't entirely human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shifting Sands

**Author's Note:**

> AU oneshot I wrote ages ago and posted on ff but decided to bring over here since i finally made an account. 
> 
> Young Sakura and Gaara in a definite AU setting haha. 
> 
> Planned to add more but haven't in forever and don't know if I ever will so for now it's complete and just a oneshot. :)

Gaara sat in his sandbox, ignoring the other children running around and playing their mindless (pointless) games. Instead, he focused on the sand that surrounded him, concentrating his chakra so that the sand swirled and made different shapes in front of him. He'd often spend hours entertaining himself that way, sitting in silence with nothing but he and his sand.

As he sat, he became aware of another presence approaching the sandbox to his right, he looked up with lazy green eyes to see what the intruder desired, whether it was to play with him, or to mock him. Probably not the latter, if they were smart; and most likely not the first option either; this led Gaara to wonder why someone was actually coming to him. This was a first.

The young girl took small, quiet steps up to the red-head that was sitting in the lone sandbox in the whole playground, situated in the far right corner a little away from the rest of the playground's jungle gym. She looked down at him, not sure what he would do, and took a few more tentative steps towards him, less than a foot away from the box now.

"What do you want?" Gaara finally asked, fed up with the silence and fixing the girl with a dead glare.

"U-Uh-umm, I was w-wondering if I c-could pl-play here with you for a little while, please." She looked down at the ground, no longer meeting his jade eyes.

"Y-You wanna play with me?" Gaara asked in wonderment, not entirely sure he'd heard the girl correctly.

"The other kids don't wanna play with me," She admitted in a low whisper, "They think I'm a freak 'cause my hair's pink."

Gaara looked up and realized for the first time that the girl did in fact have bubble-gum pink hair, "That doesn't make you a freak." Gaara told her, firmly.

"Really?" Her emerald eyes lit up as she looked at the boy, "So does that mean I can play with you."

"No." Gaara told her and the light in her eyes faded, "But you may play in my sandbox if you like."

"Ok then," She took at tentative step into the box, the sand giving way under the weight of her foot, she stepped completely in and sat down in the corner, fingers running through the beige sand, smiling as it flowed around her digits. She looked over at the boy, who was still eyeing her warily, "Is this ok?"

"Sure," Gaara said, then turned around and went back to playing with his sand, drawing little designs.

They stayed like that, each in their own corner, for hours and Gaara eventually relaxed to the feeling of having a stranger in his sandbox. He was aware of when she stood and stepped out of the sandbox, patting herself down. He turned and looked at her, the look of apprehension was on his face once more. She looked down at the boy and smiled, a row of white teeth showing on her face, "It's getting late, if I don't get home soon my father will be upset with me. I'll come back tomorrow, though. So, um, good night."

And with that she turned and ran off, her light cotton dress flowing out behind her. "G-Goodnight," Gaara repeated.

The next morning Gaara sat in his box, once again making designs with his sand swirling around him as the children running around playing freeze tag. He wouldn't quite admit it to himself, but he was waiting for the appearance of a green-eyed, pink-haired girl. As the day dragged on, he began to feel a little agitated, his sand was moving around more, moving in accordance with his emotions. He was sure she'd told him that she'd be coming back but, she'd yet to shown. Perhaps something had come up, or she was sick.

Gaara's sand swirled in a small, yet volatile whirlwind and the other children sent him fearful looks but, Gaara simply ignored them in favor of brooding. When the sky finally darkened and the park emptied, Gaara allowed himself to finally leave, giving up hope for the young girl to show up. Maybe, he thought, she would show up the next day.

As it turned out, the young rosette didn't show up the next day, nor the day after, or the day after that. Gaara wasn't sure about the the fourth day because he refused to go to the park, part of him not wanting to have to be disappointed again while another part was trying to convince himself that he wasn't attached to the girl at all, the girl he'd only known for a day and had said only a few words to.

Finally, the fifth day, Gaara made his way back to the playground and his precious sand box, telling himself that he was going to be surrounded by sand and not to wait for the emerald-eyes girl.

When he arrived at the playground, the girl was already in his sandbox, twirling her finger around in the sand and drawing lazy circles. Gaara stepped over to her and looked at her cautiously, not sure what to do.

"You're back," Gaara stated the obvious.

She giggled as she looked up at the redhead, standing up and brushing the sand off of her and bringing his attention towards her arms-she was wearing a pair of light capris and a flowing green, capped sleeved top-where a fading bruise was placed across her thin wrist.

She stepped towards him, bringing his attention back up, and smiled, "Yeah, I wasn't feeling very well the past couple of days."

"You seemed fine," Gaara supplied, stepping into the sandbox and passed her, going to his corner, "And I don't really care that you weren't here."

"O-Oh," She said, looking at the boy who sat down in his corner, "Ok then, um . . . I'm Sakura by the way."

"Gaara." Gaara supplied, not looking back at her, "You're still free to play here, though, if you wish, Sakura"

Sakura plopped down, smiling, "Sure, Gaara."

They sat in silence, playing in their relative corners until a small red ball flew at them, crashing into Sakura's small sandcastle.

"Oh no," Sakura sighed, picking up the offending red object and dusting it off, looking around to see where it came from.

"That's ours," A boy voiced, keeping a cautious distance between him and the sandbox.

"Here, then, it's ok, don't worry." Sakura lifted it up, but they didn't come.

"Naw, we have another." He shrugged.

Sakura laughed, "You're just being silly now, here come and take it." She sighed when no one moved, "Well, here then," She threw the ball at them and the boy caught it, nodding thanks before the entire group ran away.

Sakura sighed and turned around, shaking her head at their wierdness, and noticed the swirling sand around Gaara. She stepped towards him, cautious, and peered over his shoulder to get a better view of his talent. As she took another, nearly stumbling over her own two feet, Gaara stopped and looked over his shoulder in shock, the sand sliding towards Sakura slightly.

"Oh," Sakura took a step back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you, it's just that I've never seen that before, it's really cool. How do you do it?"

Gaara looked at the girl, not expecting that reaction. Most people ran from him, she came over and asked to play; most people feared his sand control, she was entertained by it; most people called him a demon (rightly so, since he had the one-tailed Shukaku sealed inside of him), she hadn't voiced that at all, she didn't even know his real name. He wondered if she even liked him slightly, if it was an emotion kin to what Yashamaru had called Love.

"Are you from here?" Gaara asked, looking at the pink-haired girl.

She blushed and shook her head, "No, we just moved here from the land of fire, I-I'm new and I'll be starting school at the ninja academy here soon."

"Oh," That explained everything, she didn't know what he was, so she wasn't afraid. Gaara looked at the girl and wondered how long it would be before she learned the truth and acted like all of the other kids. Never, he hoped. He rather liked having a friend, having someone in his life who didn't look like they were afraid he'd go on a rampage and kill them (which could happen so easily.)

"So, can you show me more?" Sakura asked once more.

"S-Sure, sit." Gaara spared her a half smile as he turned and began lifting the sand into various shapes.

Sakura sat down beside him and was quickly lost in the 3D art show, amazed at the fact that he was able to create so many different things by molding the sand. She wasn't sure how long she had sat there watching Gaara play with his sand but, when she adjusted herself because her leg was becoming tingly with sleep, she noticed that it had darkened greatly outside.

"Oh no," Sakura stood quickly, startling Gaara into dropping the sand-tiger he'd been forming, she turned to looked down at him, eyes wide, and quickly spoke, "I-I've gotta go, I stayed out long past curfew, my dad's gonna be so mad at me when I get home." She bit her lip as she started to step out of the box, "I-I'll try to come back tomorrow, but no promises. I dunno how much trouble I'll get it."

Gaara nodded, "Good night, Sakura."

Sakura smiled at him, her cheeks tinting red, "G-Good night, Gaara." She turned and ran down the empty street in the same direction she had before.

Sakura showed up the next day, much to Gaara's surprise (and delight) and she quickly joined him on his side of the sandbox to watch him play with his sand some more, this time trying to guess what he was making with the sand before he finished. The next week continued in the same manner, simply sitting in the sandbox and playing until the sun got low in the sky and Sakura would hop up and rush home with a, "Good night, Gaara."

At the begining of the third week Sakura knew Gaara, she showed up at their sandbox to find it empty, no redhead waiting for her. She went over and sat in the box for a while, until the sun rose high in the sky and began to lower, trying to figure out where the boy was. When it began to get dark, she quickly stood and started to walk home, wondering if the boy was sick or something (though he seemed to be the kind of person who was never, ever ill). Sakura also wondered if this was how he had felt when she hadn't been able to make it to the sandbox.

As she turned down the last corner to her house, she kicked a small pebble and it skidded a few feet in front of her.

"Sakura."

Said girl turned quickly, trying to find the source of the voice, and was met with the sight of Gaara, leaning against the wall of a building across the street from her. She quickly stepped over, smile growing on her face, "Gaara, where were you? I waited all-" As she got closer she realized that there was something different about her red-haired friend, something off.

She took in his appearance once more and noticed that there was a different look in his eyes, they were wild and feral looking, a darker shade of green and on his foreheard was a bloodied kanji, as if he'd traced a kunai into his forehead.

"W-What h-ha-happened?" Sakura stuttered, taking a half step backwards from the boy.

Gaara's sand quickly swept up and caught Sakura's back, pushing against her so that she had to come closer to him. The wild look in his jade eyes grew slightly as he took the girl in, "Are you scared of me, Sa-ku-ra?"

His tone was mocking and for a moment, Sakura wasn't sure if this was really Gaara, or at least the one she knew. She took in his bloodied appearance, the first time she'd ever seen him with any sort of injury, and took a deep, calming breath before answering the question, "A-Are you gonna hurt me, Gaara?"

Gaara just laughed a mocking, almost sinister laugh at the girl, "You're scared of me."

"I-I just," Sakura was at a loss of words, "I'm not usually scared of you, b-but you're scaring me now. What you're doing is scaring me now." Sakura qualified, "I-I'm not sure what's going on right now, G-Gaara. Why are you acting like this?" Sakura sniffled as she looked at the little boy.

Gaara tilted his head and when he spoke, it wasn't as sinister, "My uncle tried to kill me. He loved me." He said it like he could have been telling her the sky was blue or her eyes were green.

"He didn't love you then, if he tried to kill you. People don't hurt the ones they love."

"Would you ever hurt me?" Gaara asked, a smile on his face as if questioning whether she'd be able to hurt him.

Sakura shook her head slowly, confused, "Why would I ever wanna hurt you, you've done nothing to hurt me."

Gaara laughed again and his sand lifted up and scraped against her cheek and arms, tightening around her wrists, "What if I hurt you right now?"

"Would you?" Sakura asked, her voice shaking. The sand on her wrist tightened, creating cuffs around them, and she winced at the small shocks of pain went up her arm.

"Are you scared of me now?" Gaara asked, looking at the girl as he took a step towards her.

This time, she didn't step back and resolutely shook her head, "No, I'm not scared of . . . my Gaara."

"Your Gaara?" Gaara questioned, his voice going deeper, "I'm your Gaara."

"No." Sakura shook her head, her pink hair flinging back and forth, "You're not my Gaara. I'm not scared of my Gaara, the Gaara who makes pretty sand pictures. I'm scared of you though, 'cause your using your sand to hurt me. It's not the same at all. Who are you?"

Gaara laughed, his head flying back and the sound echoing off the empty streets the sand tightening around her wrists, he turned and looked at the girl, his jade eyes glinting, "Shukaku."

Sakura woke up the next morning, her wrists giving off a dull throb. She sat up in her small bed and looked around, not sure where she was for a moment before realization comes over her.

She quickly got out of bed and dressed, running down the stairs and into the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Sakura, where are you going in such a hurry?" Her dad called from the living room.

"I've gotta go out, I'll be back later."

"Before dark." He ordered, "Before the sun starts to set or else I'll go out and track down your skinny ass. And you don't wanna make me do that, do you?'

"No sir," Sakura called back, quickly picking up a few bills and some change to go get food for breakfast. She turned on her toes and quickly stepped towards the door.

"Wait, Sakura, come back here." Sakura cringed and turned around, crossing her hands behind her back to hide the money, "Did you take some money?"

Sakura sighed and lifted up the small amount and she heard her father come over and snatch it back from her, "Money's tight, Sakura, we have to go without for a bit."

"It was for breakfast," Sakura whispered looking down, "A-And we might have a bit more if you cut back on the sake."

She knew she shouldn't have said that last part, but it was something that had been really bothering her for a while that he would complain about money, but then go out and waste it all on alcohol. It was one of the reasons why they'd moved out of Konoha and to Suna, the rent was cheaper.

"Excuse me?" Her dad asked, anger starting to rise.

"N-nothing, it was nothing." Sakura whispered, taking a step back.

"No it was something, do you think you, a mere child, can tell me, an adult, what to do? Do you think I'm not smart enough?"

"No sir," Sakura shook her head.

"Then why tell me?"

"I-I was just . . . suggesting it." Sakura whispered to him.

He chuckled before reached out and swiping Sakura against the jaw, "Well, I suggest you find somewhere else to spend the night because I don't wanna see your ugly face later today, understood?"

"Yessir," Sakura mumbled, quickly stepping out of her house and racing down the street.

Originally, she hadn't planned on going back to the sandbox for a while, not wanting to run into Gaara in case he still wasn't acting normal but, as Sakura ran down the street blindly, her feet took her to the one familiar place in the village: the sandbox. She stopped when she realized she was a few footsteps from running into the sandbox, where the young redhead was currently twisting the sand into tornado shapes. She wondered if he'd noticed yet and if she'd have a few moments to figure out whether or not she'd join him.

He wasn't radiating hatred or mental instability now, like he had the night before. It was like the storm had temperarilly past and they were sitting in the eyes of it.

"I didn't think you'd come," Gaara stated, his voice almost void of any emotion he'd had before, "I thought I scared you off last night."

Sakura stepped towards him once more, so she was standing in front of him and asked, voice very softly, "A-Are you my Gaara, now?"

Gaara looked up at her, the dark rings under his eyes more pronounced and the kanji on his forehead still present, almost like a morbid tattoo, "I think so, I'm not so sure anymore."

Sakura stepped into the sand box, the sand swirling beneath her, and sat down next to the redheaded boy. She looked at him for a moment, her chin resting on her knees, not knowing what to say to break the tension that was surrounding them.

"Your lip is bleeding," Gaara informed the young girl, reaching out and wiping his finger against her chin, riding it of the sticky, red substance, "I don't remember doing that."

"What do you remember?" Sakura asked, ignoring the unasked question.

Gaara reached down and traced the bruise on one of her wrists, "I gave you those, and this," He tapped the rough patch of red skin on her cheek from where his sand had rubbed it too harshly, "But not this," He touched beneath her busted lip.

Sakura looked away, towards the edge of the sandbox where a procession of ants were climbing along the colored wood, "I-I don't wanna talk about it, please. Wh-What happened to you though, yesterday. I waited for you all day long, but you never showed up."

Gaara looked at her, eyes training on the small bead of blood forming on her chapped lip, "I told you already."

"Did you kill him?" Sakura asked another question, her heart pounding slightly as she pried into the boy's life.

Gaara smiled a wicked smile and his eyes flashed, "He killed himself, I suppose. He blew himself up early yesterday morning in an attempt to kill me. Though, I would have killed him, just like I kill all of the others."

"Others?" Sakura gulped, "Did they try to kill you, so you killed them?"

Gaara nodded, focusing his attention on Sakura, "My father sent them to kill me so I simply returned the favor. Don't look so scared, Sakura, this didn't all happen yesterday, I've been a killer for years. I've killed before and I'll kill again. I enjoy it, I crave it, I need it."

Sakura leaned back slightly, trying to give herself time and space in order to figure out what all of those words really meant, "You like to kill?"

Gaara gave a dark chuckle and leaned towards the girl, his eyes flashing a darker green once more, "Yes, I do, Sa-ku-ra. There's something appealing about cornering someone and seeing the look in their eyes when they realize that they're gonna die."

Sakura gasped as Gaara leaned over her and pushed her down so she was laying in the sand. She knew her face would betray her fear but could do nothing to stop it as Gaara indeed cornered her. She didn't think he'd kill her but, that other one might; Shukakau, he'd said the night before. Was he taking over, now?

"I like being the one in control," Gaara continued, finger tracing along her pale throat, sand following it and Sakura shifted slightly, "The one to end it." He was leaning over her, his halo of red locks gravitating downwards, around his face and he leaned in until Sakura could feel the tips of one tickle her cheek. She shivered as she felt the sand rub against her right arm.

"Are you gonna end us?" Sakura asked, "End me?"

Gaara leaned back slightly chuckling at her question, "Why should I kill you, you've done nothing to hurt me." He repeated her words from the night before.

"A-Are you my Gaara or Shuka-Shukaku right now?" Sakura whispered, reaching her left arm, since the right seemed to be encased in sand, and traced along his cheek.

Gaara chuckled, "Both, I guess. I stopped being able to tell the difference yesterday."

"I want my Gaara back," Sakura pouted, causing the blood to slip down slightly.

Gaara looked down at her and his eyes lightened up a bit, still not going back to the lively jade they'd been before, "I'm gonna try something I learned to do to stop bleeding a while back."

"Wha-?" Sakura began when Gaara leaned down and began sucking on her bottom lip, where the blood had gathered. After a moment, he sat up and looked down to see the blood clotting, "It worked." he told her, simply, and sat up and away from her.

Sakura sat up, resting on her elbows as she looked at the boy in bewilderment as she processed the fact that he'd just given her a kiss (her first). She looked at him, "I don't understand what's happening," She admitted, "And, I'm not sure if I like it entirely so, can we maybe go back to how it was before?"

Gaara laughed a Shukaku-laugh and looked at the girl with feral eyes, "Shukaku likes your question, I don't think he'll kill you." He could have been saying that the grass was green.

Sakura swallowed, "Can you still do the sand animals?"

Gaara nodded as a small cat formed quickly and began prancing around like a real cat, "I'm better, now."

Sakura smiled and-even though a large part of her brain told her things would never, ever be normal again-Sakura was pleased with the bit of normalcy.

She scooted closer to him and watched as he made several animals, "I don't have any other friends, 'cept for you, Gaara, so I guess it's a good thing Shukaku likes me, I think."

Gaara looked at the girl for a moment, a blank expression on his face, before shrugging, "Just remember, I don't like having friends. It's like playing with fire."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sakura nodded, eyes on the puppy.

The sun was beginning to set when Gaara looked over at Sakura, "Won't you have to leave soon?"

Sakura remembered her father's early warning and shook her head, "No, I'll hang around a little more, if that's alright. I mean, if you need to leave than that's ok."

Gaara shook his head, "No one's waiting for me, I'll stay with you for a little while longer." He molded his sand together and formed a small doll.

"How do you do that?" Sakura asked, giggling as the small doll moved around.

"I can make the sand go harder or softer, so it can form different shapes." Gaara told her, "And then, I just move it around."

"Can I try?" Sakura asked, picking up the small doll.

"I guess," Gaara lifted his hands up to cup hers in his, the doll crumbling in her hands, "Just form it however you want to and I'll make sure it sticks."

"Kay," Sakura spared him a smile before she focused all of her attention on the sand in her hand, molding it as best she could while she felt Gaara's chakra moving through her hand to the sand. Finally, she managed to come out with a lobsided 3D heart. She held it up to Gaara, smiling at Gaara as she showed off her creation, "It's not as good as yours but I think it's pretty."

Gaara looked at the heart (that looked more like a wobbly egg) and chuckled, "You need more practice."

Sakura giggled at his nice way of saying it sucked, "Can we make another one? A puppy?"

"I guess," Gaara held his hands up once more, channeling chakra back through as she tried to make a puppy dog. This one came out looking more like a cow and Sakura gave a huff and simply set it in Gaara's hands, "Fix it, please." She told him.

Gaara added a few more touches and the cow turned into a little dog that he set back in Sakura's hands, "You're so good at it," Sakura complained, rubbing a finger down the puppy's head.

Gaara shrugged, "I've been doing it for longer."

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura said, "I'll just have to keep practicing."

Gaara chuckled and Sakura stuck her tounge out at him, secretly pleased that the darkness in Gaara's eyes was suppressed, not completely gone, but it wasn't at the surface anymore.

"Sakura!" A voice called and Sakura's head shot up to the source of the voice, her body stiffening as she looked at the man who was making his way towards the playground, "Where the hell are you?"

Sakura set the puppy on the ground in front of Gaara and stood up quickly, looking over to where her father was, "Um, I gotta go, now."

Gaara nodded, his eyes on the man.

"Good night, Gaara."

"Night," Gaara looked up at the girl and Sakura noticed the darkness was rising once more.

"Gaara," Sakura whispered as she stepped away from him, "Um, I . . . um, probably won't be here tomorrow but, I'll come back, I promise."

Gaara nodded, looking back at the man, "Is that your father?"

"Yeah, he doesn't like to be kept waiting," Sakura stepped completely out of the sandbox, "See ya later, Gaara."

"Night," Gaara whispered back to her, not looking away from her as she walked over to the man.

"Fath-" Sakura greeted him, but was cut off by him grabbing her arm.

"Where the hell were you?" He asked, leaning down to get in her face.

"Y-You told me not to come back home tonight, remember?" Sakura asked, voice small and quiet compared to his ranging anger.

Gaara stood in the sandbox, eyes fixated on the exchange taking place in front of him. His eyes were drawn to her father's red face as he sputtered out an incomprehensible response before lifting a hand and swiping it across her check with a resounding thwack.

"Ow!" Sakura protested, the force snapping her neck to the left so that she could make out Gaara through her tear-filled eyes, "I-I'm sorry, Daddy." She apologized, trying to appease him before he got too carried away in his anger.

"Whatever, it's time to come home-I'm hungry."

"Yessir." She pulled back as he released her arms, only to stumble slightly and fall to the ground.

"C'mon," Sakura felt herself being lifted up by her hair.

"Ouch, stop it!" She called out, trying to regain her footing but unable to; instead, she was half-dragged by her hair going down the street, her arms flailing about as she tried to recover her balance.

She was yanked back when she felt something grab her wrist, she fell back slightly, her hair still firmly in her dad's grip. She screamed out as she was pulled in opposite directions at the same time. Finally, her father released her and Sakura fell down completely on her butt, sand surrounding her in tiny waves.

She looked around and finally spotted Gaara to her right, standing the direction she'd been headed previously. She noted the crazed look in his eyes and was worried as to whether or not her Gaara was in control or not.

"Who the hell are you?"

Sakura looked over at the reed-haired boy, confused as to what his purpose could possibly be, "Th-this is Gaara, a f-friend of mine."

Her father looked back at her for a moment, "You don't have friends, girl. And, as for you, boy, get out of my way."

"No," Gaara spoke, his voice dark once again, his eyes glowing with darkness.

"Excuse me?" The older man looked down at the boy incredulously, "I oughta smack the shit outta you, teach you a lesson, boy. A lesson you won't ever forget."

"Try it." Gaara challenged, his eyes shining with twisted glee.

Sakura's eyes widened as her father moved to hit the boy and she reached forward, grabbing him by the crook of his elbow, "No! Don't hit him, please."

"Stay out of this, girl," He swung around, knocking his elbow into Sakura's face, sending her sprawling down to the ground.

"Ow," Sakura grumbled, sitting on the hard ground, struggling to look back up at him through tear-blurred eyes, "Don't touch Gaara, he's my friend."

"I said," Her father turned to her, his back facing Gaara as he kicked her in the side, forcing her onto the ground completely, "To stay our of this. I oughta kill you for that."

He leaned back to get a good kick to her exposed back, but was unable to swing his leg forwards, finding it incased in complete sand.

"The hell?" He turned to look back at the boy, "Let me go, this has nothing to do with you."

Gaara didn't answer, the sand tightening up uncomfortably around his ankle, squeezing it so tightely, the bones were rubbing against one another. Sakura sat up slightly, trying to figure out exactly what was going on with everything.

"Gaara?" She whispered, fearful of what he might possibly be planning to do.

"No body." Gaara murmured darkly, the sand tightening until a resounding crack came out, followed by pain-filled screams, "Nobody is allowed to kill Sakura."

Through the pain, he managed to squeak out, "I wasn't gonna hurt her, just rough her up."

Gaara chuckled, the sand slowly covering his body, moving upwards towards the head, "No one is allowed to hurt Sa-ku-ra."

"Gaara?" Sakura called again, not sure of what was going on, exactly.

"Sand coffin," Gaara spoke, and the sand seemed to squeeze as screams rang out through the night air.

Sakura gasped as blood splashed over her, splattering across her pale face.

"Y-You killed him," She whispered, her body feeling cold and blank from shock.

Gaara let the reddened sand drop, landing in a pile on the ground. He walked over to the girl, whose entire body was pale, shock settling down on her. She stiffened slightly as Gaara bent down to reach out and touch her, but he ignored it and simply continued in his fluent movement, stretching a hand out to stroke her pale cheek before reaching out and grabbing both of her upper arms to pull her closer to him, like one would a small kitten or puppy.

"G-Gaara," Sakura whispered, "Y-You killed him."

"I had to he was gonna hurt you, Sakura." Gaara spoke, his childish voice an odd monotone, "Remember this, Sakura, no one but me can ever hurt you, understand."

Sakura tried to pull back from him but found herself unable to, "B-But why, Gaara."

"You're mine." Gaara spoke.

"Like a pet?" Sakura asked, voice soft. She stopped her futile attempt to pull away from the boy, instead resting her head against him as exaughstion seemed to cover her entire being.

Gaara chuckled slightly, thinking back to the when they were making the sand animals only mere minutes ago. It seemed like a lighter time period, as if he was now looking though a dirty window or dark, yet transparent veil of some sort at the younger memory.

This answer came in the dual-voice Sakura remembered from the night before, signalling that both Gaara and Shukaku were answering at the same time.

"Yes."


End file.
